It is often necessary to transport motorcycles by mounting them on or pulling them behind automobiles or other vehicles (hereinafter referred to generally as vehicles). This is especially true for off-road or dirt bikes, many of which are not street legal and/or are uncomfortable for long distance riding. Most apparatus for transporting motorcycles falls into one of two categories: trailers and carriers. In general, trailers have wheels and carriers do not. Trailers have drawbacks in that they are generally bulky, difficult to store in most vehicles, and tend to be unstable when pulled at high speed.
Several carriers have been developed in an attempt to mitigate or overcome the disadvantages of trailers. Such carriers are disclosed in the following patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,348,713 to Will; U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,737 to Daugherty; U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,029 to Coffey; U.S. Pat. No. 3,720,333 to Vaughn; U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,694 to Wilson; U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,830 to Long; U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,333 to Goldstein; U.S. Pat. No. 3,805,984 to Schwartz et. al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,098 to Nicrotra; U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,811 to Spencer; U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,842 to Campbell; U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,274 to Schaffer; U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,284 to Hauff; U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,981 to Bruhn; U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,638 to Hutrya; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,894 to White.
All of the above-listed carriers have disadvantages in that they require complex mounting or operating means, do not provide for easy loading and unloading of a motorcycle, and/or they do not adequately secure the motorcycle.
The motorcycle carriers of the above-mentioned prior art mount transversely to the length of the vehicle. If may happen that, when a vehicle is parked for loading or unloading, there is an obstruction or a hazard on one side of the vehicle, such as a curb or traffic. In such situations, it is advantageous to be able to load or unload the motorcycle from the direction of the safer or unobstructed side of the vehicle. Prior art patents addressing the aforementioned problem include U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,284, U.S. Pat. No. 3,348,713 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,694. All of these patents solve the problem by providing a platform that may be rotated in either direction. A significant drawback of these designs is that both ends of he platform must be suitable for rolling the motorcycle onto and off of. Hence, a rigid, non-detachable bracing means generally cannot be implemented on either end of the platform.
Thus, there exists a need for a motorcycle carrier which is simply mountable and which can be easily stored. Further, there exists a need for such a motorcycle carrier which provides for convenient and reversible loading and unloading of a motorcycle thereon. In addition, there exists a need for a motorcycle carrier having integral means for firmly securing a motorcycle.